Our work has never been more urgent or necessary than it is today. The pandemic has created an unprecedented health and economic crisis, impacting tens of millions of people and devastating families across our country. It has hit low income Americans hardest as well as accelerating the transition to a digital economy for which many workers are not prepared. We must create opportunity for workers to get good jobs with good wages as the economy recovers.
At Markle, we have made it our purpose to inspire leaders from all sectors to lend their collective know-how to identify solutions for the nation’s most pressing problems. We devote ourselves to leading collaborations to meet these public needs.
Seeking to drive impact at a speed and scale this current challenge demands, Markle formed the Rework America Alliance, an unprecedented national collaboration of partners to enable workers to emerge from this crisis stronger. The Alliance aims to help millions of workers, regardless of formal education – particularly people of color who have been disproportionately impacted by the crisis – move into good jobs in the digital economy and accelerate the development of a more effective system of worker training aligned to jobs that employers will need to fill.
The Alliance expands upon our previous work through Markle’s Rework America and Skillful initiatives to help workers have greater market power and a stronger voice in decisions that impact their lives. Skillful, through its work in Colorado, Indiana, Rhode Island and other states, partners with employers, educators, workforce organizations, state leaders and others, to create a labor market that works for everyone, regardless of educational background. Markle’s Rework America State Network, a non-partisan collaboration of 30 governors and the mayor of the district of Columbia, is working to transform the labor market at a scale and pace not possible through individual state actions.
Earlier undertakings at Markle led to catalytic changes in health care and national security. Markle Connecting for Health transformed our nation’s complex and over-burdened health system by framing the national health care reforms that offer electronic information exchange, providing Americans the ability to view, download, and transmit their personal health information. The Markle Task Force on National Security in the Information Age developed the policy and technology architecture that established national security information sharing after 9/11 while protecting traditional civil liberties. Our work in both health care and national security has gained widespread adoption, as evidenced by sweeping reforms at the local, state, and federal levels.
In this current time of adversity and transformation, Markle and its partners remain driven to solve and seek solutions to the nation’s most complex challenges. We invite you to join us.
Zoë Baird
CEO and President
